1-2 Switch and HD Rumble can expand the Switch's accessibility

The Switch has many unique qualities that have no doubt been a point of inspiration for developers looking at creating games for the console, but, as one couple recently discovered through 1-2 Switch, those same features also expand the system’s accessibility. 

1-2 Switch is filled with mini-games, many of which make use of the Switch’s HD Rumble feature. Those games rely on haptic feedback designed to mimic realistic movement and impact on a small scale, as well as on audio cues. As Kotaku reports, this meant the world to Mandi Bundren who was able to spend hours playing 1-2 Switch mini-games with her blind husband, Rich Maroney. 

After only expecting to pick up the game for fifteen minutes or so, Bundren found that she and her husband were able to play most of the mini-games in 1-2 Switch together. The pair avoided anything that seemed to require sight, but were still able to spend hours playing against one another. 

“I was amazed at how accessible this game is for blind people," said Bundren in a reddit post this past weekend. "Out of the 28 games he was able to play against me in 21 or 22 or of them, and he beat me most of the time. Even at ping pong!"

Among those mini-games were ‘safe crack’, which uses gentle haptic clicks to simulate unlocking a dial combination lock, or ‘quick draw’, which relies on fast movement and reaction times to win a Western shootout. Bundren says ‘boxing gym’, ‘ball count’, and ‘shaver’ were also big hits.

“I’m eager to see what comes out with the Nintendo Switch,” Bundren told Kotaku. “If they can incorporate the HD rumble and sound cues into some adventure and puzzle games so that Rich can play I’d be ecstatic!”